F 234
.R5 C61
Copy 1

The Capitol Disaster

A CHAPTER OF RECONSTRUCTION
IN VIRGINIA

BY

Hon. George L. Christian

OF

Richmond, Virginia

Sold for the Benefit of the Associated Charities of
Richmond, Va.

PRICE, 50 CENTS A COPY

*'Blessedis he that considereth the poor, the Lord will deliver
him in time of trouble.'' — Psalm XLI, 1.

Richmond Press, Inc.

1402 East Franklin Street
Phone Madison 4850

Richmond, Va., Feb . 13th, 1915.

WHEREAS, the Directors of the Associated
Charities of Richiiiond, Virginia, have been
advised that the Hon. George L. Christian,
of this city, has prepared a short history
of the "Capitol Disaster", covering a most
interesting period of Reconstruction da,ys in
Virginia, and tha.t gentlemen, friends of
Judge Christian, have agreed to provide for
its publication; that Judge Christian has
kindly proposed to dedicate the publication
to the Associated Charities, and he and his
friends have generously tendered the pro-
ceeds from the sa.le of the publi caption to
this Organization; NOW THEREFORE, be it re-
solved that v/e express our gra.teful appre-
ciation of the gracious offer by Judge
Christian 3.nd his friends, and resolved
further that we pledge our best efforts to
secure the widest possible circulation for
th e pub 1 i c a t i 6*n-.

0. A. HAWKINS, President
Associated Charities
James Buchanan, Secretary

OF Rirn^IOKO WEI)NFs"'\^ MllL 1 7- L^TT-Hirf MTV. CF THE

I THE DEiP—FfiSii i luaiooitAiH ui E. i. Lctutuh

THE CAPITOL DISASTER

A CHAPTER OF RECONSTRUCTION IN VIRGINIA.

Richmond is, and we think, of right ought to be, regarded as
one of the most historic cities in this country. Apart from its
pre-revolutionary, revolutionarj^ and ?>osi-revolutionary fame and
incidents (some of which, although meagerly recorded, are full of
interest), it was for four years of terrible war, the Capital and
Citadel of the South, during M^hich period, nearly every movement
of the armies of the North were directed at its capture or destruc-
tion, and during much of that time, it was, literally

"A looming bastion frinf>;p(I with fire".

Wlien deeds of daring and devotion could no longer prevail against
"overwhelming numbers and resources," and the City had to be
surrendered by the Confederates; two-thirds of the business
portion were left in ashes, and the rest of it almost in a condition
of starvation and desolation.

In the defence of the city, its people were subjected to sufferings
and sacrifices rarely endured, and they were, almost daily, the
witnesses of scenes and experiences which, at other times, and
amid other environments, would have been deemed disasters or
calamities. Whilst referring to these things, the purposes of
this paper are not to describe any of them; but m^erely to show,
why one of the two great historical disasters in the life of the city
(each about equally destructive of human life, and productive
of human sorrow and suffering) has left a more lasting and vivid
impression on its history than the other.

The first of these two memorable disasters occurred on Decem-
ber 26th, 1811, when the 'Tdchmond Theatre" was destroyed
by fire; when seventy-two human lives were lost (among them
the then Governor of the State), and many others were injured
in escaping from the flames.

The second occurred on April 27th, 1870, when the floors of the
court room and clerk's office of the Supreme Court of Appeals of
the State (then located in the Capitol building) fell, precipitating
a crowd of about three hundred and fifty men about twenty-five
feet into a "pit of destruction," killing sixty- tw^o and wounding
two hundred and fifty-one more, some of them among the most
prominent and useful citizens in the land.

THE CAPITOL DISASTER.

At the time of the first of these occurrences, Richmond had a
population of only about ten thousand. It was, and had been for a
long time, enjoying a season of genuine peace and prosperity,
and hence the happening of this startling event amid such sur-
roundings, created a profound impression throughout the whole
land, and it has not only found its appropriate place in the history
and traditions of the city, but it is often referred to now as one of
the most noted events in its life.

At the time of the happening of the second of these occurrences,
the people of Richmond, then five times as large as in 1811, had
just emerged from the calamities of a great disastrous and de-
structive war; the women, as well as the men, were inured to
scenes of death and danger; they had just passed through not
only four years of war, but five more years of so-called "Recon-
struction;" during which, almost daily, events were occurring,
calculated to shock the sensibilities of the people, and to make
them ask, what next? These things and the strain and stress of
trying "to keep the wolf from the door," followed by commercial
and industrial endeavor ever since, have swallowed up and almost
obliterated, the memories of the second, or "Capitol Disaster,"
from the minds of the few now living, who witnessed or who were
the victims of that frightful event, and the younger generations
are generally ignorant of it, and the causes of it. We should add
too, that the good sense displayed in building the Monumental
Church on the site of the first disaster, has greatly contributed
to memorialize that event, whilst there is not even a tablet, or
any other memorial, that we know of, to mark the happening of
the second. Will not some one have this done?

As one of the few survivors of the second disaster, we have been
asked to place on record, the details of that event, as far as they
can now be obtained, and the incidents which preceded and
caused that event. We have consented to undertake this task,
mainly for the reason, that this calamity was the climax and cul-
mination of "Reconstruction," and a direct result of those
illegal and infamous measures; and because the people of this
generation have no conception of the trials and tortures through
which those of us who lived through those days were called to
pass; trials and tortures which justified the "Klu Klux Klan,"
and other like organizations to protect our women, and to pre-
serve the integrity of our civilization and race. It is creditable
to the people of the North to say, that they are now as much
ashamed of the "Reconstruction" measures, and of the crimes
and outrages committed under them as those of any other section
of the country.

UK

THE CAPITOL DISASTER.

Any attempt to describe the many occurrences in Richmond
in the attempts to enforce those infamous measures, is beyond
the scope of this paper. But it is legitimate and proper to show,
that certainly so far as Virginia is concerned, there could be no
reasonable ground for the enactment of those harsh, illegal and
unconstitutional measures, unless, as nearly all of us believed at
the time, and as most of us think now, they were designed to
further punish, and persecute our already prostrate and suffering
people, and to degrade them, if possible, by putting them under
the dominion of their former slaves. Either this, or they were
enacted to render our people less able to resist the fierce and con-
stant raids of the "carpet baggers," ''scallawags" and other cor-
morants who flocked and feathered here, like the miserable vul-
tures they were, "seeking whom and what they might devour;"
and who had generally "left their country for their country's
good." We repeat, there could have been no excuse for the en-
actment, and attempted enforcement of these measures in Vir-
ginia. The old Commonwealth had been already rent in twain
by the mailed hand of war, and by means and measures which
even Mr. Lincoln's Attorney-General had pronounced "an
original and independent act of revolution" and as a "plain
breach of both the Constitutions of Virginia and the Nation."
Francis H. Pierpont, with his so-called Legislature consisting of
sixteen members, in both branches, had removed his Capital from
Alexandria to Richmond, and had been hauled from Rocketts to
the Capitol building, with all his archives of State, in an ambu-
lance. They were then claiming to be the Civil Government of
Virginia, and were recognized as such both by the Federal Gov-
ernment and the people of Virginia, and Pierpont was adminis-
tering the affairs of the State peaceably and quietly, and gener-
ally to the satisfaction of our people. There may have been,
and doubtless were, conflicts at times between the people and the
civil and the military authorities still kept here, but these were
infrequent, and nothing like so serious as those afterwards occur-
ring under the "Reconstruction" Acts. Only one illustration will
suffice to show the chaotic condition produced by these "Recon-
struction" measures. They empowered the military commander
of each district (Virginia being District No. 1) to remove every
civil officer, who could not take the "iron clad" or test oath (i. e.,
an oath that he had not supported or sympathized with the South
in her struggle for independence), and to replace these officials
with those who could take that oath. This the general command-
ing the district promptly did, and thus removed practically every
judge, clerk, sheriff. Commonwealth's attorney, commissioner

THE CAPITOL DISASTER.

of the revenue, constable, justice of the peace, mayor, council-
man, etc., in the State, since nearly all of our people were true to
the South, and were consequently disqualified for office under the
terms of these acts. The military appointees were "carpet
baggers" from the North, "scallawags" from the South, negroes
or Federal soldiers detailed from their several commands, and,
with few exceptions all were equally ignorant, incompetent
and corrupt. As ludicrous as it now sounds, (it was too serious
a matter to be laughed at then) the judges appointed were as
ignorant and bad as the rest, and sometimes even worse. The
judge appointed to preside over the circuit court of the city of
Richmond, to supplant the learned, able and upright Meredith,
did not even know what p. q. when put at the end of a bill, declara-
tion, or other pleading meant. The Supreme Court of the State,
which had given John Marshall to the Judiciary of the country,
was presided over by a Major on General Schofield's Staff,
another soldier and a civilian, no one of them ever having been
before heard of as a lawyer. Their decisions are reported in
XIX Grattan, and in the copy of that volume in the State Law
Library on the page where the names of the so-called judges
appear, some wag has made a bracket embracing their names,
and written, that

"Although they sat upon the eagle's eyrie, they are buzzards still."

During military rule in Virginia, which lasted from April 3rd,
1865 (when Richmond was evacuated by the Confederates), until
January 26th, 1870 (when the representatives of the State were
permitted to take their seats in Congress, and the State thus
readmitted into the Union), there were seven military and two
so-called civil Governors, each and all of whom alien enemies
of the representative white people of the State, and, exclusive of
the adventurers and the negroes, not one of them could have com-
manded the support or respect of a ''Corporal's Guard" of the
true people of the Commonwealth.

And so we were subjected to the domination and usurpation
of these alien rulers for nearly five years, after the war ended,
and that too, notwithstanding the fact that Andrew Johnson,
the then President of the United States, had, on April 2nd, 186.6,
issued his proclamation setting forth "that the insurrection which
heretofore existed in the States of Georgia, South Carolina,
Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisana,
Arkansas, Mississippi and Florida is at an end, and is henceforth
to be so regarded." We have said before, that it was impossible
for the people of this generation to appreciate the difficulties and

THE CAPITOL DISASTER.

disappointments we then had to encounter, and we repeat this
statement with emphasis. Especially was this true, at a time
when most of us were strugghng, and with difficulty, to make a
living, and with many other forms of trial and privation too
numerous to mention.

But the worst is yet to be told. On September 12th, 1867,
General Schofield, then in command of ''District No. 1," issued
his General Order No. 65, setting forth that

'•In pursuance of an Act of Congress of March 28rd, 1S67, an election will be had
for delegates to a State Convention, and to take the sense of the registered voters
upon the question whether such convention shall be held for the purpose of estab-
Ushing a constitution and civil government for the State of Virginia, loyal to the
Union.''

This election was held on October 22nd, 1867, and the two
following days, running far into the night of each day. We
remember going to the one voting place then in Mom-oe Ward,
about nine o'clock at night of the last day, when "carpet bag-
gers," "scallawags" and negroes were still being brought up and
voted, and on asking a friend, "from whence they were still
bringing these voters," he answered, "from 'Oakwood,' 'Holly-
wood,' 'Shockoe' and 'Hams' burying grounds;" and, doubtless,
the names of many of those then on the registration books (un-
purged up to that time) who had long before "shuffled off this
mortal coil," were then being voted by the "Managers" on behalf
of a convention to represent these "Managers" and their allies
in that body, and in so doing, to malign and to misrepresent, our
Mother Commonwealth. Poor Old Virginia! wasn't she then
draining the cup of sorrow and shame to its dregs? But, alas!
the end was not yet, as we shall presently see. With such
"Managers" and such methods prevailing throughout the State,
and with the active support and sympathy of both the military
and quasi civil authorities then in power, the result could not
long be in doubt, and so the "Black and Tan" (as it was after-
wards called) convention was called of the following mongrel
and heterogeneous composition. There were one hundred and
five members of that body — thirty-five conservatives, sixty-five
radicals, and five doubtful. The radicals were composed of
twenty-five negroes, fourteen native white Virginians (the
"Scallawags"), thirteen New Yorkers, one Pennsylvanian, on«
member from Ohio, one from Maine, one from Vermont, one
from Connecticut, one from South Carolina, one from Maryland,
one from the District of Columbia, two from England, one from
Ireland, one from Scotland, one from Nova Scotia, and one from
Canada. Of the fourteen white Virginians belonging to the

THE CAPITOL DISASTER.

radical majority (the "Scallawags"), some had voted for Seces-
sion, some few had been Confederate soldiers, others had had sons
in the Confederate Army, and scarcely one of them had been
known as a Union man during the war. We involuntarily ex-
claim with Milton —

"But what will not ambition and revenge
"Descend to? Who aspires naust down as low
"As high he soared, obnoxious first or last
"To basest things."

But, thank God, there were but a very few so-called white men, and
no women, in that despised class in that day, and I hope and be-
Ueve there are fewer in this. The man who forsakes his own people
in ordeals of adversity and trial such as we were then passing
through, is a crook, a craven, or a scoundrel, and frequently a com-
bination of all three. A vigorous writer of that day, thus de-
scribes the situation. He says:

"It is difficult to realize the situation which we have reached in the South. The
mind is stupefied at the initiation of Negro domination. It is a waking nightmare
whose horrible shadow cannot be pierced by the struggling faculties, a spell that
neither the senses, nor the reason, can dissolve. The only escape from such a fact
is, that which the stout and resolute always discover from the storms and floods of
unpropitious fortune. Resolved to swim, they breast the tempestuous waves,
unterrified and undiscouraged, confident that if but true to themselves, they were not
born to be drowned. In such a spirit should the white people of Virginia buffet
with the rude surges that break over them in this moment of adversity; in such a
spirit should they beat down the heaving bosom of the dark flood in which they
struggled; in such a spirit should they wTestle with the swift and swollen current of
this revolutionary period, which has submerged all the ancient landmarks, has
subverted the foundations of the Federal Government; has swept away the sentiment
of constitutional liberty at the North, and is now raging hke a howling waste of waters
over the lately fair and lovely vistas of the Sovith."

Some of our readers will doubtless say, whilst this writer's
rhetoric is very fine, the picture he here draws must be an ex-
aggerated one. We can assure such critics that this is not the
case, as we vividly recall those dark and terrible days.

But we must return to the work of the Convention. It sat in
the hall of the House of Delegates in the Capitol from December
3rd, 1867, to April 17th, 1868, and on the last-named date (the
seventh anniversary of the adoption of the Ordinance of Seces-
sion, sitting in the same Hall), it adopted, what is known as the
''Underwood" Constitution, so-called because of the fact that
John C. Underwood, the Federal District Judge of this District,
presided over that body. No more striking contrast could be
found, than that presented by the personnel of these two conven-

THE CAPITOL DISASTER.

tions: That of 1861 represented all that was highest, noblest and
best in the history and traditions of the best days of the Common-
wealth; the majority of that of 1867, I have no language to
describe, but will only borrow from Scott's "Lay of the Last
Minstrel," and say of each: —

"Despite these titles, power and pelf
"The wretch concentered all in self
"Living shall forfeit fair renown,
"And doubly dying shall go down
"To the vile dust from whence he sprung
"Unwept, unhonored and unsung."

The members of the first were the prototypes of the purity,
patriotism and proprieties of the best civilization and traditions
of the race; those of the majority of the latter represented the
jetsam and flotsam left on the surface of a troubled sea, stirred to
its depths by the strifes and animosities of a cruel and wicked war.
As was the contrast in the personnel of these two conventions,
so was the outcome of the respective labors of the two. That of
1861 adopted measures consonant with the true sentiments, and
what was believed at the tim.e to be the highest duty and best
interests of the State; that of 1867 adopted a constitution illy
suited to the conditions then existing in the State, foreign to its
best interests a7id disfranchising nine-tenths of the men of real
worth and character in the State. This convention spent one hun-
dred thousand dollars in its worthless and wicked work, and ¥/ould
have spent many thousands more had not General Schofield dis-
banded it, and the expenses of the last ten days have never yet
been paid.

The people of Virginia were, as we have said, singularly loyal
and devoted to the Confederate Cause; and so the provision of
the "Underwood" Constitution disfranchising all who could not
take an oath that they had neither sympathized with, nor sup-
ported, that cause, made these, the true people of the State,
organize and determine to defeat the adoption of that constitution
at the polls. The "Conservative Party," as it was called, was
then organized for that purpose, and would doubtless have
succeeded but for the fact that at this juncture, Mr. Alexander
H. H. Stuart of Staunton, a wise statesman and patriot, seeing
that the readmission of the State into the Union was about to be
indefinitely postponed, and that negro suffrage was inevitable,
determined, with a few others, to try to do something to relieve
the situation. He then formed what was afterwards known as
the "Committee of Nine," composed of Mr. Stuart, as Chairman,
John B. Baldwin, Wyndham Robertson, W. T. Sutherhn, James

THE CAPITOL DISASTER.

Neeson, J. F. Johnson, Wm. L. Owen, John L. Marye, Jr., and
John F. Slaughter, and this committee prevailed on Congress,
after great efforts, to authorize the submission of the constitu-
tion to be voted on either as a whole, or that the provisions re-
quiring the "test oath," and the disfranchising clause, should be
voted on separately. It was commonly said at the time that the
"Committee of Nine" had done "a great deal of good;" but,
reflecting over those times, we do not believe the work of that
committee has ever received the meed of praise it really deserved.
The truth is, many of our best people had become disgusted at
the many acts of perfidy, bad faith and oppression practiced
by the Federal Government and its leading representatives at
the time, and they were, therefore, suspicious lest the work of that
committee might be considered as "truckling" to those who had
oppressed and fooled them so long and so often. We confess
that we felt this way ourselves; but when we saw later that we
were mistaken, we cheerfully joined and worked for the "Con-
servative Party," and have supported it, and its successor, the
Democratic Party, from that day to this.

On the 10th of April, 1869, Congress passed an Act, empowering
President Grant to submit to a vote of the people the constitu-
tion, either as a whole, or by sections, separately, as he might
deem proper. Grant, be it said to his credit, issued his procla-
mation on May 14th, 1869, fixing July 6th, 1869, as the date for
submitting the "Underwood" Constitution to the vote of the
people, and he submitted the fourth clause of Section 1 of Article
III and the seventh Section of the same Article, to be voted on sep-
arately from the Constitution. Accordingly this election was held
under the supervision of General E. R. S. Canby, commanding
District No. 1. The total registered vote in Virginia at that time
was 269,884, of which 149,781 were white, and 120,103 colored.
The total number of votes cast for and against the Constitution
and the independent clauses, was 222,319, of which 125,114 were
white, and 97,205 were colored. The Constitution was ratified
by a vote of 210,585 to 9,135. The fourth clause of Section 1
of Article III, or the disfranchising clause, was rejected by a vote
of 124,360 to 84,410, and Section 7 of Article III, the test oath
clause, was rejected by a vote of 124,715 to 83,458. At this election
Gilbert C. Walker, a conservative, a native of New York, but
then residing in Norfolk, was elected over Henry H. Wells, a
radical, from Michigan, then acting Governor, under military
appointment, by a vote of 119,535 to 101,204, or a majoritv of
18,381.

THE CAPITOL DISASTER.

On January 26th, 1S70, another Act of Congress was approved
readmitting Virginia into the Union, and on the same date, it was
contemplated by the act, that the military should be withdrawn,
and all of their appointees to office annulled and the offices
vacated as soon as their several successors were elected and
qualified. Notwithstanding the fact that Canby's powers as
military commander ceased with the readmission of the State on
the 26th of January, 1870, as we have seen, yet on the next day,
the 27th of January, he fired his Parthian arrow at the Old Com-
monwealth by an order directing all the military appointees to
office to hold on until their successors chosen under the New Con-
stitution were elected and qualified. This order, if effective, would
prolong the terms of all these appointees until July 1st, 1870,
when the terms of all officers elected under the New Constitution
were seemingly intended to take effect.

It may be, that we owe our readers an apology for the fore-
going long recital, but it contains matters of history which ought
to be known, which we have gathered from apparently authentic
sources, and which facts as will be seen, presently, have a direct
bearing on the "Richmond Mayoralty Case," and the "Capitol
Disaster," which was the result and sequel of that case.

THE RICHMOND MAYORALTY CASE.

As just stated, Gilbert C. Walker, a native of New York, then
residing in Norfolk, was elected Governor at the election held on
July 6th, 1869, to commence to discharge the duties of the office
as soon as the State was readmitted into the Union, by the seat-
ing of her representatives in Congress, and this was, as before
stated, on January 26th, 1870.

We can never forget the grand procession, and other demon-
strations of joy in Richmond celebrating both the election and
inauguration of Governor Walker. He was a fine looking man,
not devoid of moral and physical courage, possessed of fair in-
tellectual ability, and had many attractive and admirable traits
of character. He was very popular, and after his term as Gov-
ernor had expired, was elected to Congress from this district over
Col. John H. Guy, one of the best men, and one of the ablest
lawyers in the State. Walker's good looks were his undoing,
and, so when in Congress, he became demoralized, and was de-
feated in the next election by General Joseph E. Johnston; he
then left Virginia, and went back to his home, at Binghamton,
New York, where he has since died. He made, on the whole.

10 THE CAPITOL DISASTER.

a very good Governor, and his election was certainly the best
we could have done at the time.

As before stated, Walker went into office on January 26th,
1870; he called the Legislature, elected at the same time that he
was, to meet on February 8th, 1870, and on March 5th, an "en-
abling act" was passed, which recognized as legal such of the
existing civil officers of the State as were eligible under the Con-
stitution, and provided especially "for the more efficient govern-
ment of cities and towns;" that the Governor should appoint
councilmen or trustees to take the places of those then in office.
This act also authorized these new councilmen or trustees (with
certain exceptions) to fill all municipal offices, such officers to
supplant and supersede those then filling those offices, respec-
tively.

On Tuesday, March 15th, the Governor appointed councilmen
for the city of Richmond, retaining two of those appointed by the
military, viz. : Colonel Albert Ordway, who came to Richmond
in command of a Massachusetts regiment at the time of the
evacuation. Ordway married a lady then living here. Miss
Missouri Godwyn, a strong Confederate, and he became one of
our best and most useful citizens. The other was William C.
Dunham, also from some Northern State — Massachusetts, we
believe. He also married a Richmond lady, Miss Lina Ayres, a
thorough Confederate, and he also became a most useful and
exemplary citizen. He held at his death — caused by the Capitol
Diaster — the agency of the Old Dominion Steamship Company.

This council, at the request of Governor Walker, met and
organized the next day by electing Mr. James A. Scott, as Presi-
dent. It then elected Mr. Henry K. Ellyson Mayor of the city,
•who at once qualified, and sent to the council the names of Major
John Poe, Jr., for chief of police, and the following six captains,
viz.: James M. Tyler, Reuben T. Seal, George Fowlkes, James B.
Pleasants, Charles T. Ganther and John Disne}^, all of whom were
at once elected, although, as will be seen later, Ganther adhered
to the cause of George Chahoon, the military appointee, already
in office, who had as his chief of police Major Egbert, of the
Federal Army, together with a fully organized and equipped
police force. Chahoon determined at once to contest Ellyson's
title to the office of Mayor, claiming that that feature of the
"enabling act," which authorized his election, was unconstitu-
tional and void, and that by virtue of his appointment and by the
terms of the order of General Canby of January 27th, 1870,
before referred to, he had the right to continue in office until
his successor, elected by the people under the New Constitution, was

THE CAPITOI. DISASTER. 11

duly elected and qualified, which coidd not occur until July 1st,
1870.

Since the character and conduct of both Mr. Ellyson and Mr.
Chahoon in one of the gravest crises, in the history of this city
are about to be considered, it seems to us, that this is the appro-
priate place to speak of each of them as a man, a citizen and an
officer. We know Mr. Ellyson well, from the time we came to
Richmond to live in 1860, until his death in 1S90, and we fully
endorse what is said of him by a writer, who wrote that —

"No man who ever lived in Virginia excelled Mr. Ellyson in high moral standing,
or business integrity, and certainly he was not excelled by any in untiring usefulness."

When we first knew him, he was a sheriff of the city. Under
the law, as it was at that time, it was the duty of the sheriff to
collect, and account for, the whole revenues of the State, in ad-
dition to performing the duties of attending on the courts, and
serving process, as is now required of that officer. All of these
duties were performed by Mr. Ellyson with a courtesy, a prompt-
ness and efficiency that could not have been excelled. As in this
office, so in all others he was called to fill, he discharged the duties
so faithfully, so efficiently and so satisfactorily, that it was a
real pleasure and comfort to have business with him. But Mr.
Ellyson was far more than the courteous and efficient official.
He was a useful, enterprising and exemplary citizen; he was a
Christian gentleman, and as active and faithful in the affairs of
his church, as in those of the State, and thoroughly up to the
mark in both. He was too, a man of superb moral and physical
courage, never rash, never impetuous; safe in counsel, and
singularly clear-headed, able and considerate.

Of Mr. George Chahoon, we knew but little, except that he was
an adventurer from the North, who came here as a "Camp fol-
lower" with the Federal Army. He was a United States Com-
missioner appointed by Judge Underwood, and therefore in-
eligible to office under the laws of Virginia. He accepted and
held, and tried to continue to hold on, to the mayoralty of Rich-
mond, after his successor had been duly elected and qualified,
after he knew, that nine-tenths of the people of intelligence and
worth, wanted to get rid of him. Not only is this true, but he
seemed ready and willing to embroil the city in strife and even
bloodshed, just to keep himself in that office a few months longer;
and last, but by no means least, the next we hear of him, he was
convicted of a felony for "uttering and attempting to employ
as true," a forged bond of a dead man's estate for $7,000.00,
knowing the same to be a forgery, "with intent to defraud," and

12 THE CAPITOL DISASTER.

was sentenced to serve a term in the penitentiary. Indeed, he
was convicted of this offence by two juries, with quite an interval
between the trials. On a writ of error to the judgment rendered
on the first trial, the Court of Appeals of Virginia granted him a
new trial, on the merest technicality. On the second trial, he
was again convicted in the lower court, and although the Court
of Appeals again granted him a writ of error, and his case was
argued by the ablest criminal lav/yer then at this bar, the late
Judge W. W. Crump, the court affirmed the judgment of the
lower court; and he would have gone to the penitentiary and
served his term, but for the intervention of Governor Walker,
who thought it a stroke of good policy to pardon him, w4th the
understanding that he would leave the State, and not return.
So exit Chahoon. (See his cases reported in 20 and 21 Grattan.)

These two then, Ellyson and Chahoon, were the real parties and
antagonists in the "Richmond Mayoralty Case" which case
caused the "Capitol Disaster,''^ as we shall presently see:

Having now described, the cause of the conflict, the casus belli,
and the parties, we come now to speak briefly of the eminent
counsel on both sides. Those for Ellyson were Judge John A.
Meredith, Hon. Raleigh T. Daniel and Hon. James Neeson.

Those for Chahoon were Hon. Henry A. Wise, Hon. Henry
H. Wells and Hon. L. H. Chandler.

And now a word about each of these in the order named:
Judge Meredith filled a large place in the hearts and in the affairs
of the people of Richmond. He represented it in the Convention
of 1850-51. He was elected Judge of the Circuit Court of the
city, on the formation of that court, and by reason of the State's
business transacted therein, the most important circuit court in
the State. He was one of the commissioners sent by the authori-
ties to surrender the city to the enemy when it had to be evac-
uated by the Confederates on April 3rd, 1865. (Hon. Joseph
Mayo, the Mayor, and Hon. Wm. Henry Lyons, Judge of the
Hustings Court, being the other two) . We saw the commissioners
as they returned with General Godfrey Wertzel, the Federal
Commander, after they had performed their painful office, and
we can never forget that sight. Just here, let us record a very
novel and rather ludicrous occurrence which, we are informed,
Judge Meredith used to relate, as having taken place in the per-
formance of the duties of the commissioners in surrendering the
city. The three commissioners rode out in a carriage, down the
"Osborne" Turnpike, expecting to meet the enemy at, or near,
Fort Harrison. When they reached the vicinity of the Fort,
they were startled by hearing the whiz of some stray bullets.

THE CAPITOL DISASTER. 13

Neither one of these gentlemen had been soldiers, and were
not pugnaciously inclined that morning; they, then for the first
time, thought about hoisting a "flag of truce." On searching
for this very important article, they found that it had been
entirely forgotten. The question then was, how to improvise a
flag of truce for the emergency. The white handkerchief for the
use of gentlemen was not yet in vogue; the "red bandanna" then
used was calculated to infuriate rather than to appease; so there
seemed but one solution of the vexed question, and that was, to
cut off their shirt tails, pin then together, and tie them to a staff,
and this is what they did. And so it came to pass, that this city,
the Capital of the "storm cradled" Confederacy, which for four
years had baffled all the assaults of the enemy, and for the coming
five years was to endure the malignity and misrule of the shifting
and shiftless governments of seven military and two so-called civil
Governors, was surrendered under a shirt-tail flag of truce. We
feel like exclaiming with the great Bard :

"But yesterday the word of Caesar miji;ht

"Have stood against the world, now hes he there,

"And none so poor to do him reverence."

Judge Meredith was for many j^ears President of the Board of
Aldermen, and in every way a useful and exemplary citizen.
He was also recognized as a lawyer of decided learning and ability.

Hon. Raleigh T. Daniel was perhaps the greatest genius of the
Richmond Bar. He was for many years the city attorney; had
just served a term as Attorney-General of the State, and had been
renominated by his party for a second term at the time of his
death. He was a charming companion, a most accomplished
gentleman, and a lawyer of signal learning and ability.

Hon. James Neeson was from Western Virginia. He had re-
moved to Richmond at the outbreak of the war, because of his
lack of sympathy with the majority of the people in the territory
afterwards embraced in the State of West Virginia. He was a
member of the convention of 1850-51 from the district composed
of the counties of Marion, Preston, Monongalia and Taylor. He
was a very able and astute lawyer, and a man of imperturbable
disposition.

Hon. Henry A. Wise was, by all odds, the most distinguished
man, but not the most noted lawyer, engaged in the case. He had
been Governor of the State, a member of Congress, Minister to
Brazil, a prominent prospective candidate for the presidency, a
member of the convention of 1861, and a gallant and distinguished
Brigadier-General in the Confederate Army. He was a con-

14 THE CAPITOL DISASTER.

summate orator, a fiery and impetuous advocate, but was not
noted for being a safe counsellor, or a very learned or profound
lawyer. He was the most delightful conversationalist that we
ever had the privilege of listening to, and one of the most noted
stump speakers in the whole country.

Hon. Henry H. Wells was the "Reconstruction" Military
appointee to the office of Governor of the State, to succeed Gover-
nor Pierpont. His reputation was that of being a smart fellow,
but if he had any reputation as a lawyer, we never heard of it.
He was a "Carpet-bagger," and was frequently referred to as
Henry Harpy, but whether on account of his rapacious disposi-
tion, or the general duplicity of his make-up, we never knew, and
never felt interest enough in him to enquire.

Hon. L. H. Chandler was from Norfolk. He was the United
States District Attorney for this district ; was a smart fellow, and
a good lawyer. We remember hearing Judge Crump refer to
him as the "intellectual supplejack," so ready and so quick was
he to "catch on" at every turn his case might take. A distin-
guished gentleman of the city used to tell of his occasional visits
to General Schofield. He said the General would say one day
something like this:

"Well Bowden (Attorney-General under Pierpont) was here yesterday, and he
says Chandler is the greatest scoundrel on earth."

Another day, the General would say:

"Well Chandler was here yesterday, and he says Bowden is the biggest scoundrel
on earth."

Choice (?) epithets of this kind were not only current when the
so-called gentry of that type and day were speaking of each other
to third parties, but they were frequently indulged in "face to
face," and no notice taken of the seemingly intended insult.
Well, they knew each other better than we did, and, therefore,
we never felt inclined to take issue with any of them, on any of
the charges of rascality they saw fit to prefer against each other.
And then too, from our knowledge of the "gang," we felt satis-
fied there was among them a sufficient quantity of the virus to
"go round" and to "leaven the whole lump."

Having completed our description of the parties, ana tlieir
several counsel, we now propose to state some of the main feat-
ures of the manner in which the conflict was conducted by them.

As soon as Chahoon heard of the election and qualification of
Ellyson, he sent word to his police force at the three stations, to
hold them against all comers, and to recognize no orders except

THE CAPITOL DISASTER. 15

from him, or his Chief Egbert. By six o'clock on Thursday
morning, March 17th, Major Poe, Ellyson's Chief, went to the
Old Market Station, and demanded the transfer of the place to
him as the lawful Chief of Police of the city. But Chahoon's
officers on duty refused to recognize Poe's authority, and, of
course, refused to surrender the station. Poe went to Egbert's
residence, and made a similar demand of him, but with the same
result. An hour later, Ellyson and Poe had opened an executive
office at 1441 East Main Street, and had there gathered all of
Ellyson's officers (except Ganther) with fifty-three men of the
old police force, ready for duty, Charles H. Epes having been
appointed captain in the place of Ganther. At eight o'clock
A. M., the following letter was sent by Ellyson to Chahoon:—

"Office of Mayor,

"Richmond, March nth, 1870.
"George Chahoon, Esq.,
Dear Sir:
By virtue of an election by the Council of the City of Richmond, held on yester-
da3', and after due qualification according; to law, I have assumed, and entered on the
discharge of the duties of Mayor of the City of Richmond, and request that you wil',
as late Mayor of the City, transfer to me, as its present Mayor, all property, books
and records in your possession belonging to said City.

I shall be pleased to have an interview with you, at my office, with the object of
effecting the transfer aforesaid.

Respectfully your ob't servant,

H. K. Ellyson, Mayor."

To this letter Chahoon replied later in the day, as follows : —

"Richmond, March 17lh, 1870.
"Henry K. Ellyson,

Sir:

In reply to yours of this date (the 17th), I have to say, as Mayor of the City, that
I do not recognize your alleged election by the Council of the City of Richmond as
valid according to the Constitution of the State of Virginia; and I cannot recognize
the authority of the Council under which you claim an election, nor do I recognize
the police force assumed to be elected or appointed by them.

Being already lawfully invested with the office of Mayor, and now acting under
its authority, I shall exercise its powers to prevent and resist any usurpation of its
functions by you or any one else, not duly elected and qualified according to law.

I trust that the peace of the City will not be broken; and if you deem it your duty
to contest my office for the time bemg, until an election can be held according to the
Constitution and laws of the State, by the people of the City, that you will resort to
the judicial tribunals. Every opportunity is afforded you to compel me to show
cause why a writ of quo ivarranto should not be issued. This is a peaceful remedy,
and I will cheerfully submit to any decision by the Courts against my right to hold
the office of Mavor.

16 THE CAPITOL DISASTER.

I deem it my duty to inform you, that any attempt to exercise the office you claim,
or to exercise any other office, by any other person under the police of this City by
force, will be lawfully resisted by me.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully,

Your obedient servant,

Geo. Chahoon,
Mayor of Richnoml."

These letters clearly disclose, the issue as made, in what was
known at the time as the "Municipal War," and since the lead-
ers on both sides were thought to be men of approved courage,
the situation presented was indeed a grave one. It was feared
too, as afterwards proved true, that General Canby, with his
troops, still here, would take sides with Chahoon and his follow-
ers, and, since Governor Walker had no organized Mihtia, Elly-
son's cause did not look encouraging. The late Major P.obert
Stiles, in his account of the situation and of the occurrences then
taking place, written at the time of Mr. Ellyson's death, and on
which we have freely drawn, says: —

"It was a grave crisis. Timid men whose spirit had been crushed by the pro-
longed despotism of reconstruction, and overawed by the military power of the
United States, apprehensive of bloodshed, and of a return to the irresponsible
tyranny of the soldier, whispered that the legal vahdity of the 'enabling act' was at
least questionable, and its bad pohcy certainly unquestionable, and counseled aban-
donment of the claims of our officers holding under it. Rash men inflamed by the
audacity of Chahoon's position and pretences, urged an immediate attack on him as
a violent trespasser on the property of the City." But, as Major Stiles then adde, —
"Our Mayor was neither rash nor timid."

He recognized the gravity of the situation, and the importance
of the trust committed to his hands by the representatives of the
real people and true interests of the City, and, whilst he informed
the public that he would do all in his power to avoid bloodshed,
and would not attempt to resist the power of the military author-
ities of the United States ; yet he was determined to do his duty,
as far as possible, to preserve the integrity of his office, and the
right of the people of the City to have their affairs administered
by one of their own people chosen by their own representatives.
If necessary to accomplish this, he said he was willing to "go to
jail and remain there as long as might be necessary to vindicate
the rights of the people of Richmond."

On the receipt of Chahoon's letter, Ellyson sent a captain and
twenty-five policemen and took possession of the City Hall.
He now had sworn in three hundred and seventy-five special
pohcemen. He had the fire department, the officers and men of
which were loyal to a man, and in addition to these, the young

THE CAPITOL DISASTER. 17

men of the city organized a battalion of which Major Stiles was
chosen as the commander, the services of which were placed at
the orders of Mr. Ellyson. Nor was Chahoon idle during
these precious and momentous hours. He had established his
headquarters in the Old Market Station, sworn in a large number
of special policemen, mostly negroes, and put them under the
immediate command of a negro, "Col." Ben. Scott, one of the
worst and most desperate of his race, anywhere to be found.

The station was barred and barricaded against attack, but
Chahoon had neglected to provision it, and it was, therefore,
impossible that it could sustain a prolonged siege. Ellyson was,
of course, supported by the intelligence and worth of the city, and
a few of the most active of these are now living. He held the
City Hall, where the council met; the council controlled the purse
strings of the city, the ''sinews of war," and it was thoroughly
loyal to him and his cause. This was also true of Governor
Walker, who, although a Northern man, and lately an officer in
the Federal Armj^, behaved admirably in this emergency, as his
subsequent correspondence with General Canby would attest,
if we had the space to insert it here; but we cannot.

Chahoon held the three police stations, viz. : Old Market, Sec-
ond Market and Brook Avenue, and while his police force made an
occasional arrest, Ellyson and his force were practically in control
of the city. Both held their courts, however, Ellyson in the
City Hall and Chahoon in the Old Market Hall, and both tried,
convicted and imprisoned offenders against the laws of the city
and State.

But to return to the 17th of March. Chahoon had promised
Ellyson to reply to his letter of that date demanding a surrender
of the property of the city by twelve o'clock (noon) of that day.
This he had, however, failed to do. After waiting until one
o'clock, Ellyson despatched a body of seventy-five special police-
men, under the command of Major Poe to capture the Old Market
Station and Hall. The besiegers needed a fire; so they built one
of green wood at the foot of the stairway leading up to the hall,
where the besieged were drilling, and where Chahoon was with
Governor Wise as his leading counsel. The weather was too cold
to hoist the windows, so the smoke from below soon commenced
to do its work; the besieged were then cut off from fuel, gas, water
and all communication with the other police stations, and no
communication was allowed with the outside save from United
States officers who wished to confer with Chahoon, he being also
a United States Commissioner of Underwood's Court. Deputy
Sergeant Ben August, the present faithful and excellent city

18 TH E CAPITOL DISASTER.

clerk, was also permitted to visit the besieged for the purpose of
serving process on a witness, and he talks interestingly of the
then activities of the besieged. Later in the day, a man named
Stovall appeared and demanded admission, claiming to be a
United States Commissioner, and desiring to see Chahoon on
business; the officer in charge of the besiegers beheving him to be
an impostor, refused to let him in. He soon returned with a
warrant for the arrest of Wajor Poe on the charge of interfering
with a United States official in the discharge of his duties. Soon
Ellyson and his police captains were also arrested on the same
charge, but were at once bailed, and no witnesses appearing
against them, these prosecutions were continued at the time and
never resumed. Towards night, the crowd of negroes increased,
began throwing bricks and other missiles at the besiegers, who
returned this by firing their pistols in the crowd, wounding Ser-
geant O'C. Dwyer of Ellyson's police, a white man named Saddler,
and several negroes, but none of them seriously. This quieted
things for the night. The next morning, the crowd reappeared,
and were more aggressive than they had been the night before.
The order to clear the streets was then given and was being
obeyed when a negro named Daniel Henderson refused to move,
and grappled with a policeman. Instantly firing opened on
both sides, and Henderson was mortally wounded. He was sent
to a hospital and nursed carefully, but died the day after, the only
fatality in the famous Old Market Siege.

Mayor Ellyson had a conference with General Canby that
evening at Canby's request. He assured the latter that he could
suppress any further outbreak, and he understood Canby to say
he had no intention or desire to interfere, and, if he did, he would
only do so on behalf of the constituted authorities of the city, and
Ellyson then understood Canby to recognize him, and those
acting with him, as such authorities. Later on, Canby denied
this, but Ellyson had written out the substance of the interview
in a letter to Governor Walker, immediately on leaving Canby,
and he satisfied Walker that his report of the interview was cor-
rect, and that Canby's was wrong. Wlien we recall the fact that
Canby was killed by the Modoc Chief, "Capt. Jack," for the
basest treachery, we are not surprised at any act of treachery or
duplicity emanating from him. He was so thoroughly hated
by the people of Richmond, that when the news of his death, at
the hands of "Capt. Jack" was reported here, one of our best
known ladies remarked that ''she would like to have the privilege
of pensioning and supporting Capt. Jack during the rest of his
life." Indeed, none of the seven commanders of ''District No.

THE CAPITOL DISASTER. 19

1" were popular, or seemed to try to make themselves so with
our best people, as the following verses from the pen of Dr.
Charles H. Winston, one of the then professors of Richmond
College, now living, will clearly indicate. It was a ''mixture"
that touched the popular heart here to the core at that time : —

"CARMEN AND TERRY."

"TeiTy leave us, sumus weary;
"Jam nos taedet te videre,

"Si vis nos with joy implere,

"Terry, in hac terra tarry

"Diem nary.

* * * *

"Forte Thaddeus may desire thee,
"Sunner, et id om., admire thee
"Nuisance nobis (not to ire thee)
"We can spare thee, magne Terry,

"Freely — very.

* * * *

"Bid thy dulces Afres vale —
"Fompey, Scipio et Sally —
"Seek some back New Haven alley,
"Terry, quit this territory.
"Con amore.

in if * *

"Sed verba tibi abiiuro
"Pay thy rent bills; et, conjuro,
"Tecum take thy precious Bureau;
"Terry, Turner, Blue coat homnes,
"Abhinc omnes!"

It may be well to record here the names and dates of service of
these military commanders, so as to rescue their names, to that
extent at least, from the oblivion they so richly deserve. They
are as follows, viz. :

Godfrey Wertzel, from April 3rd to April 13th, 1865; E. 0. C.
Ord, from April 13th to June 14th, 1865; Alfred H. Terry, from
June 14th, 1865, to August 16th, 1866; John M. Schofield, from
August 16th, 1866, to June 2nd, 1868; George Stoneman, from
June 2nd, 1869, to April 20th, 1869, and E. R. S. Canby, from
April 20th, 1869, to January 26th, 1870.

But to return to our story: On Friday morning, VEarch the
18th, Canby sent for Chahoon to come to his headquarters; he
was accompanied by his counsel. Governor Wise. The result of
this interview was, that Canby informed both Ellyson and
Chahoon, that at two o'clock that day, his troops would take
possession of the Old Market Station; that Ellyson's forces
should raise their siege; that Chahoon's police force should be

20 THE CAPITOL DISASTER.

dismissed, but that Chahoon was to remain in charge of the
Old Market as his official headquarters. To this arrangement,
enforced, as it was to be by United States troops, of course,
Ellyson had no alternative but to submit; but he did so under
protest, as did also Governor Walker. These letters of protest,
the one from Mayor Ellyson to Governor Walker, and that of
Governor Walker to General Canby, have the "ring of the true
metal," but we can only record that of Governor Walker here,
because of the great length to which this paper is destined to
grow. It is, as follows:

"Commonwealth of Virginia,
"Executive Department,
"Richmond, March 19lh, 1870.
Major-General Canby, Commanding, etc.:
Sir:

"From the morning press, and from other sources, 1 learn, that a military force
under your command, has been interposed to prevent the Mayor of this City, elected,
qualified and acting under the laws of this State, from the proper discharge of his
duties, and with the seeming intention of enabling another person, a mere pretender
to that office, to discharge the current business of the office. As there has been no
request by the Legislature, or any of the Civil authorities of the State, for the military
aid, I cannot understand, how or why, the military forces of the United States should
be employed in such a case, or why the mihtary officers of the United States should
discriminate against a recognized Civil officer, in favor of one not recognized as an
officer by the laws or the constituted authorities of the State. As Governor of the
Commonwealth, I ask by what law or authority you have taken such action?
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

G. C. Walker,
Governor of the State of Virginia."

In the correspondence which followed between Canby and
Walker, the former tried to justify his conduct by other "Re-
construction" precedents, and claimed that he acted because of
the necessity then existing for the preservation of the peace and
good order in the city. It was believed at the time, that Canby
was induced to act as he did, by the advice and influence of
Governor Wise, but whether, or not, this is true, we never knew.
Certainly, the old Governor was thoroughly enlisted in the cause
of his client, Chahoon, and some thought he went further than
the duties of counsel to client demanded, in his efforts to suc-
ceed. An evidence of his great zeal in this direction will be
given later on in this paper.

There were other conflicts, between the followers of Ellyson
and those of Chahoon (nearly all of the latter being negroes, who

THE CAPITOL DISASTER. 21

were greatly elated at the interference by General Canby) . In one
of these conflicts the police station at the second market was actu-
ally stormed and captured ; in another one of Ellyson's men,W. F.
Knox, was wounded, another Ellyson man, Richard F. Bush, was
killed, and the negro, Ben Scott, wounded. This kilUng of Bush
greatly excited and infuriated the Ellyson people, and it corres-
pondingly excited and elated the negroes. But it would be both
tedious and useless to relate the details of these occurrences, and,
for that reason only, we shall pass them by.

We must not, however, fail to make some reference to the pro-
ceedings instituted in the courts.

Of course, Chahoon and his counsel sought relief in the Federal
Court, then presided over by Judge John C. Underwood, of
whom we will have something to say later on. Chahoon applied
for an injunction to enjoin Ellyson, his police force and the
council which elected them, from taking possession of the city
property, and from discharging the duties of their respective
offices, and, of course, this injunction was awarded. The opinion
was delivered on the 31st of March, and concluded in the follow-
ing characteristic language: —

"It is therefore ordered, that the defendant, Ellyson, shall no longer assume to
perform the duties of Mayor of this City, under color of a void and unconstitutional
act. The defendant, Eukcr, and his associates of the fictitious Council, shall no
longer play their game of pretended authority, and that defendant Poe and his
confederates shall no longer impose upon this community as lawful pohce. In the
interest of peace and of pubhc order, the injunction as prayed for in the complain-
ant's bill is awarded. In the name and words of the President of the United States,
'Let us have peace'.^'

When the decision was rendered, counsel for Ellyson and his
co-defendants asked leave to appeal from it, but the court
refused this, on the ground that the decree was not final, but only
interlocutory. This counsel then (disclaiming, or rather conceal-
ing, any intentional disrespect for the court), asked that their
clients might be deemed guilty of only formal disobedience of the
injunction, and on being arrested for contempt, might then bring
the case before the Supreme Court of the United States on writ
of habeas corpus. Underwood was about to accede to this, when
Governor Wise sprang to his feet, shaking his long hair, which
generally came to his shoulders, with clenched fist, quivering
frame and piercing eye, indulged in a torrent of abuse, invective,
denunciation and protest, that could scarcely have escaped the
lips of any other living man. He declared that the effrontery
and insolence of the defendants' proposition was without parallel

22 THE CAPITOL DISASTER.

in the annals of judicial procedure. "Arrested," he cried; "yes,
your honor, let him be arrested, but let it be no mollitur manus
imposuit. Let him be seized by the roughest hand, and incar-
cerated in the deepest dungeon the law can command, and let
him be loaded with biting chains. Sir, if the era of insolent law-
lessness, of the musket and the bludgeon has come, let us know it ;
here and now, let the proclamation of war be openly made, right
here in the temples of outraged and defied justice."

When this tirade had ended, the silent awe of the courtroom
was painful in the extreme; the negroes shuffled about, and
literally gnashed their teeth. Everyone present seemed to be
anticipating an outbreak the next instant; the judge was judge
no longer; the torrent which came from the lips of the "old man
eloquent" had literally swept him from his moorings. He had
abdicated; he was terror-stricken, and he adjourned the court and
incontinently fled the city. The next day when Chahoon's
counsel wished to apply for further process to enforce their in-
junction, the court could not be found, and so Ellyson and his
friends were not arrested, the injunction directed by Underwood
was never enforced, and Mayor Ellyson went on holding his court
ev^ry morning, thereby courting arrest. A "writ of assistance"
was subsequently issued by Underwood, a copy served on Elly-
son, and the property of the city demanded to be surrendered
by him; but this he refused to do. It was again demanded by the
marshal, with a small posse, but again declined. A third time this
farce was tried with the same result. Ellyson having redoubled
his forces, remained at the city hall all that Saturday night and
all day Sunday, so anxious and so determined was he, to "leave
no stone unturned" for protecting the rights of his people, com-
mitted to his hands.

The contempt proceedings for violating Underwood's injunc-
tion were never pressed. Subsequently the whole case was laid
before Chief Justice Chase in Washington, and at his sugges-
tion, and by agreement of counsel, continued until the May term
of the court. It is proper to add that Ellyson's counsel applied
to Judge Wellford of the Circuit Court of Richmond, for a writ
of maiidamus, which was awarded against Chahoon, but this was
likewise disobeyed, and no steps were taken to enforce it. This
illustrates the practical condition of anarchy then existing in this
city.

When Chahoon saw the order his counsel had agreed to have
entered by the chief justice, he saw that he was "out-generaled"
and whipped. He had no money to pay his police force, they were
deserting his standard, and the unpaid-for devotion of his adher-

THE CAPITOL DISASTER. 23

ents, generally, was "playing out." On the 11th of April, he
wrote Ellyson a very courteous letter, suggesting that both of
them retire from the mayoralty, and "leave the Recorder or
Senior Alderman to act as though there was a vacancy in the office
of mayor. This disposition of the office of mayor, not in any way
to affect our cases before the courts, nor to be binding after a
judicial settlement is effected." This proposition, Ellyson
promptly declined, but submitted as a counter proposition the
following:

"Participating in your desire for a speedy settlement of the matters in controversy,
I propose the following: That we bring before a full bench of the Supreme Court of
Appeals of Virginia (which meets to-morrow) by writs of Habeas Corpus sued out by
a person you have confined in jail, and by a person I have confined in jail, testing the
questions of the constitutionality of the law of the State known as the 'enabhng act'.
Let us both waive all technical questions, and ask the judgment of the Court on the
main issue. If the Court decides the law to be unconstitutional, I will at once with-
draw all claims to the office of Mayor and cease to perform its duties. If the Court
declares the law to be constitutional, you are to dismiss all proceedings in the Circuit
Court of the United States, and give up all claims to the office."

This proposition was agreed to by Chahoon and his counsel,
and so what is known as "The Richmond Mayoralty Case,"
reported in 19th Grattan at page 673, was made up, ably argued
by the counsel hereinbefore named, and submitted to the Supreme
Court of Appeals of Virginia for decision.

We would fail to do justice to the history of this feature of this
controversy if we omitted to record a passing notice of Judge
John C. Underwood, and the ignoble and contemptible part
played by him in this memorable contest. In the first place, he
was so ignorant of the law, that, in a case in which the five judges
of the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia afterwards held the
"enabling act" to be consliiuiional, he was so clear it was uncon-
stitutional, that he would not even allow the counsel for Chahoon
to argue that question before him. In the second place, after he
had rendered his partizan decision in favor of Chahoon, he fled
the city, was too cowardly to remain here to try to enforce that
decision ; and his conduct in this case was in keeping with his whole
judicial career, as we vividly remember it. (See the portrayal of
his conduct as drawn by Mr. Justice Swayne in McVeigh v.
Underwood, 11 Wallace 267, and repeated by Judge Christian in
23 Grattan, 413.) Chief Justice Marshall said in the Virginia
convention of 1829-30, that "the greatest scourge an angry heaven
ever inflicted upon an ungrateful and sinning people was an
ignorant, a corrupt or a dependent judiciary." Surely, the great
Chief Justice could never have found a more fitting illustration

24 THE CAPITOL DISASTER.

of this ''scourge" than was exhibited in the person, the conduct
and the character of Jonh C. Underwood. And we say, without
fear of successful contradiction, that if Abraham Lincoln, as
President of the United States, had done nothing else to discredit
him as a man, and to establish his utter unfitness for that high
office, the nomination of such a creature as Underwood for a
judicial station, and the approval of the act creating the State of
West Virginia, in the face of the opinion of his own law officer that
the act was a "breach of both the Constitution of the State of
Virginia and of the Nation" (the last-named of which he had sworn
to support), ought to be conclusive of these facts. We cannot
forbear to add too, whilst we know it is fashionable for many
honest and true people, both at the North and South, to believe
that if Mr. Lincoln had lived, the people of the South would have
been spared the outrages, the trials and tortures of "reconstruc-
tion," that we do not believe it; and we say, after a careful and thor-
ough study of the character and conduct of this enigmatical man
—there is no sound basis for any such belief or assertion. Col.
McClure, one of the closest friends and most ardent admirers of
Mr. Lincoln, says, in "Lincoln and Men of War Times," page 227:

"What policy of reconstruction Lincoln would have adopted, had he lived to complete
his great work, cannot be known."

And this is the truth, and the whole truth.

fA

w:\

THE CAPITOL DISASTER.

25

DIAORAM OK COURT-ROOM.

A. Judges' stand.

B. B. Counsel's tables.

C. Clerk's table, given up to the reporters on this occasion.

D. Clerk's office, over which was the gallery — the line representing the partition
between the Clerk's office and the Courtroom is just where the girder was that first
gave way.

E. Door from courtroom to conference room.

F. Judges' conference room.

G. Door from Clerk's office to courtroom.
H. Entrance to galler}' and Clerk's office.

The courtroom is just over the hall of the House of Delegates.

26 THE CAPITOL DISASTER.

THE CAPITOL DISASTER.

We come now to attempt to perform, what is to us, the saddest
part of our task, and what is also, the most difficult for us per-
form, with any degree of satisfaction to ourselves, or to our readers.
One reason for this difficulty arises from the fact, that although
we fell in the "disaster," our life having been saved by the bodies
of our two friends, Mr. N. P. Howard and Dr. J. B. Brock, who
were killed, on us, and thus protected our body from the beam
that killed them, yet when we reached the bottom of the "death
trap," we were literally "buried alive," and remained so, until
we could be reached by the rescuers and taken out of the ruins.
(We fell between Hon. James N. Stubbs, of Gloucester, and
Thomas R. Joynes, son of Judge Joynes.) We were not rendered
insensible by the fall, and heard the groans, the cries, the agonies,
the prayers and supplications, which went up from that pit such
as we never heard before, and hope never to hear again. We heard
the exclamation: "Oh grave, where is thy victory? Oh death,
where is thy sting?"but we have no idea from whence it proceeded.
Having been thus buried alive, being nearly suffocated when taken
out, and having been removed to our home, as soon as a carriage
could be procured for that purpose, we, of course, saw but little
of the actual work of rescuing the dead and wounded, and of the
disposition made of these after they were removed from the ruins.
We remember being carried and laid on the floor of the south
porch of the capitol; that Governor Wise was the first to ap-
proach us there; that because of the swollen, bruised and black-
ened condition of our face, he did not recognize us, although
he knew us well; that he was very sympathetic and kind, and
soon brought General Bradley T. Johnson (whose office adjoined
ours, and with whom we were very intimate) ; that General John-
son soon got a carriage and took us first, to his home, then at the
northwest corner of Foushee and Franklin Streets, and after
partially washing the blood and dirt from our face, carried us to
our own home, then at the southwest corner of Main and Adams
Streets. Our clothes were still covered with the blood and brains
of the friends who were killed on us, and we were so disfigured
by these, and the swollen and bruised condition of our face caused
from partial suffocation, that our own family did not recognize
us, and it took some time to assure them who we were. Strange
to say, our nervous system was not affected in the least, however,
and we believe we were the only person who fell into that dread-
ful hole, who was in his office and at work the next day.

THE CAPITOL DISASTER. 27

We have thus tried, in the beginning, to explain why it was
that our personal knowledge of the incidents of the disaster is so
limited. It is fortunate for our readers, however, that this is so,
since the late Mr. Peachy R. Grattan, the reporter of the Court of
Appeals at the time, has in the report of "The Richmond Mayor-
alty Case" in 19th Grattan, given a very clear outHne of the main
features of the disaster; that shortly after the happening of the
event, there was published by Messrs. Ellyson & Taylor, a pam-
phlet, entitled "A Full Account of the Great Calamity Which Oc-
curred in the Capitol at Richmond, Virginia, April 27, 1870, To-
gether with a List of the Killed and Wounded." This pamphlet is
out of print now, and is very rare. We have a copy, however, and
have the permission of Hon. J. Taylor Ellyson, the present owner,
to use it, as we deem proper, in this paper. We shall, therefore,
incorporate so much of this pamphlet here, as will give our readers
a graphic and full account of this catastrophe, as taken from the
newspapers at the time, and of some of the events immediately
following :

FROM THE PAMPHLET.

"Sad — sad, indeed — is the duty of the Chronicler of the events
and terrible scenes in our State Capitol on yesterday. Unpre-
cedented in their awful results, heart-rending in their every aspect,
and bringing mourning to our entire city, we almost halt in palsied
horror. To describe it would be beyond the power of man, and
with those who witnessed it, its recollection will remain indelibly
vivid as long as life shall last. In sending to a spirit-grieved
people our account of this dreadful calamity, we are well aware
of our inability to give them more than a narrative of the facts
and casualties. The attendant scenes may be imagined, but can-
not be described. We give below, as best we could obtain them,
a summary of the dreadful events:

The Catastrophe.

"The room of the Court of Appeals was the scene of this horrible
occurrence. On the 16th of March last a new city council, ap-
pointed by Governor Walker, in pursuance of the provisions
of an act of the General Assembly, known as the 'enabling act,'
elected Mr. H. K. Ellyson, Mayor of Richmond The consti-
tutionality of the said act was contested by the incumbent of the
mayoralty, Mr. George Chahoon, and ultimately the question was
brought before the Supreme Court of Appeals. The arguments
of counsel had been heard, and the court, as usual, reserved its

28 THE CAPITOL DISASTER.

decision. Wednesday, as was generally known, the opinion of
the court would be pronounced, and the controversy was to be
decided, and an immense concourse of anxious spectators and
listeners had gathered to ascertain the result. Members of the
Legislature, visitors to the city from all parts of our country,
members of the bar, representatives of both police forces of the
city, members of the press, and representatives of all classes and
conditions of life, were assembled.

"The bells had just tolled the hour of 11, and death like silence
reigned as Mr. Starke, the clerk, entered and placed his books on
the table. Judges Joynes and Anderson were in their seats.
Mr. Starke, leaning over the railing, was talking with them, while
the rest of the judges were in the conference room, not quite
prepared to enter on their day's duties. The counsel for Mayor
Ellyson, Messrs. Neeson and Meredith, had taken their seats,
and were ready to proceed to business. Ex-Governor Wells and
L. H. Chandler, Esq., were also in their places, and the reporters
of the Enquirer, Dispatch, Whig and State Journal were at the
desks set apart for their use and accommodation. The moments
were spent in pleasant conversation by the spectators present.
Various were the speculations as to the final result, when, all
at once, a panel of ceiling fell, and then the girder, which is
represented by the line of partition between the clerk's office
and the court-room, gave way with an awful crash, and preci-
pitated the spectators who were in the gallery of the court-
room to the main floor, and the additional weight in one single
moment's time crushing the court-room through. The mass
of human beings who were in attendance were sent, mingled with
the bricks, mortar, splinters, beams, iron bars, desks and chairs,
to the floor of the House of Delegates, and in a second more fifty-
seven souls were launched into eternity. The whole atmosphere
was thick with a dense cloud of dust from the plastering, and the
human beings sent up a groan which will ring forever in the ears
upon which it fell. In a moment, a few survivors clinging to the
windows and fragments of hanging timber, and the bare and
torn walls were all that remained to mark the place where only
a moment before was a scene of life, vigor and hope.

Scene About the Capitol.

"The scene about the capitol building just after the sad occur-
rence was one of terror. The first notice that those who were
in the building had of the impending evil was the premonitory
rumbling as the floor was settling. Then there came a fearful

THE CAPITOL DISASTER. 29

crash, accompanied by a cry of human agony and terror which
smote the hearts of all who heard it. In a moment the frightful
situation was realized. The few who had been so fortunate as
to be able to get into the windows shouted aloud for help for those
who had fallen, and called for ladders. In a short time the bells
were toUing, and the hook and ladder trucks being brought upon
the spot, the ladders were put up to the windows, and the work
of humanity began. The blinding dust within prevented anyone
from seeing anything, and the rushing of persons within the
building and the cries of the wounded was all that could be heard.

In the House of Delegates.

"Here was a scene that fairly made one's heart bleed. As the
dust cleared away a little, a mass of timbers and rubbish of every
description was descried, and the reflection of the numbers of
human beings crushed beneath its weight, dead and dying, was
sickening. Add to this the cries and groans of those who were
there, many in the agony of death, and there is a picture to make
the stoutest heart quail. The entire hall was flooded with
the ruins, except the space under the gallery. Desks, chairs,
and tables were crushed completely, showing the force of the
falling wreck. The work of removing the debris was a difficult
one, but was undertaken by those present with a will, and it was
not long before the unfortunate men were being rescued from their
painful position.

Bringing Out the Dead and Wounded.

"This scene defies even an attempt at description. The doors
and windows of the hall were thrown open, and within were soon
collected the busy workers, who, mid their own shouts and the
agonizing groans of those they were seeking to rescue, were re-
moving the timbers. As the wounded and dead were reached,
they were brought out and placed in the Senate chamber, or else
under the trees in the square, where they were attended by our
city physicians and others who were on hand with such appliances
as could be obtained. As the men were brought out they were
so covered with dust that they could scarcely be recognized, and
for a while the anxious inquiries of the bystanders, "Who is he?"
could not be answered. One by one they were borne out — the
dead and dying. Here was one mangled and silently enduring,
another crying aloud with pain, while the still form of a third
told too well that its spirit had fled to another world. In one
moment the gray hairs of age could be descried upon the head

30 THE CAPITOL DISASTER.

of some dead one, while in the next the tall, manly form of one
who had been cut off in the full bloom of life was being borne past.
It seemed as if sickening horrors would never cease, and ages
seemed to pass in the performance of this sad duty.

All Hands to the Rescue.

"In a few minutes after the alarm was sounded the hook and
ladder company arrived on the square and immediately set to
work in elevating their ladders. Other firemen followed rapidly
and united with the ladder men in attempting the rescue of those
who were buried in the ruins. Many of the citizens who hurried
to the scene also lent their assistance, but the majority seemed
petrified with horror, or feared that the old building would fall
in and crush all who ventured near its walls. One by one the
survivors of the crash came forth, or were assisted to the open
air, each one whitened with plaster dust, or so disfigured by blood
and dirt as to be almost unrecognizable.

"There were soon plenty of workers — ^not only firemen, but
members of the legislature and citizens generally — who went
boldly and manfully into the midst of the debris, and proceeded
to clear the hall of the accumulated mass of rubbish, or to bring
out the wounded and dead.

"Nearly all who entered upon the work labored untiringly,
and their heroic efforts entitle them to the highest praise.

"All the surgeons and physicians in the city were upon the
ground as promptly as possible, and rendered all the aid in their
power to the sufferers. The Senate chamber was made a tem-
porary hospital and morgue, but most of the bodies of the dead
and dying, as well as those not seriously wounded, were taken to
the grass plots in the square. Carriages and other vehicles were
brought into requisition, and a number of the wounded were
conveyed at once to their homes, or to the hospital at the Medical
College.

The Scene in the Senate.

"The tolling of bells, the rushing and shouting of excited men,
and the news of the fearful calamity, which spread Hke wildfire
over the city in an increditably short space of time, brought
an immense crowd of all classes, ages and colors, to the square.

"Hundreds of wives, mothers and friends were constantly
filling the grounds, who, with wringing hands, sought, in the
despair, to know if any of their loved ones had been of the number
mangled. War, with its horrors, its agonies, its sad separations.

THE CAPITOL DISASTER. 31

its ghastly wounds, its horrible deaths, pictures to the mind
no such scene as the one which was yesterday enacted on the
square.

"To contemplate such a shocking affair— to see the faces of
those who expected each moment to find a near and dear friend
borne from the ruins to be cared for on the grounds by the citi-
zens and physicians in attendance — fills the soul with horror and
awful fear.

"Hacks, ambulances, and vehicles of all descriptions, were
promptly on the ground, ready to convey the wounded away from
the scene of disaster to their homes, where they could be cared
for, and their wounds dressed to better advantage than in the
dense crowd with which they were surrounded. The dead, who
had been brought out, were respectfully and decently laid aside
and covered with blankets, and afterwards borne away to their
bereaved families.

"Policemen were stationed on the steps of the building to pre-
vent the crowd from rushing in and thereby hindering those who
were administering to the relief of the sufferers.

About the City.

"The excitement of the moment over, the beautiful city of
Richmond was wrapped in gloom. The popular heart was sad,
the voice of woe and mourning resounded throughout the city, and
the asperities of life were softened in the sympathy of a public
calamity, leaving our people united in grief and in the desire
to show their respect for the dead and feeling for the injured.
All the business houses of the city were closed and badges of
mourning displayed, and save for the number of persons on them,
our streets wore the appearance of the Sabbath.

Attentions to the Wounded.

"Under this head too much cannot be said in praise of many
who labored hard to relieve the sufferers. We cannot par-
ticularize, as there are too many to be mentioned separately,
but we will only say that the members of the fire brigade, the
police force, and many of our citizens, white and colored, labored
untiringly in their efforts to alleviate and to render aid in re-
moving the dead and wounded from the ground.

32 THE CAPITOL DISASTER.

Incidents.

"When the accident first occurred Mr. W. H. Grant was just
entering the courtroom. With great presence of mind he rushed
to the bell house and had the alarm rung in an increditably short
time.

"Just before Mr. Aylett entered the Capitol he was conversing
with a friend about the death of Hugh R. Pleasants, and remarked
on leaving, 'We are all passing away.'

"Mr. Aylett was borne to the plateau north of the Capitol,
where he expired. He uttered a fervent prayer before death
forever sealed his lips.

"The House of Delegates was not in session when the crash
occurred. So far as we can learn, only some fifteen or twenty
persons were in the hall at the time.

"The hats and caps taken from the ruins nearest the statue
of Washington were thrown at the base of the pedestal, making
quite a pile.

"When the tidings of the disaster reached the Tobacco Ex-
change the dealers adjourned immediately.

"Business was suspended throughout the city after 12 M.,
and many of the store doors on Main and Broad streets were
craped.

"The Capitol was erected in 1792 from plans furnished by M.
Cleressault, a French architect.

"One of the sufferers had $6,000 in his pocketbook, which was
taken in charge by one of his friends. It was erroneously reported
that it had been stolen.

"All distinctions of color were levelled. The body of Senator
Bland was laid out between the corpses of two white men.

"The stretchers and ambulances belonging to the medical
department of headquarters were sent to the scene by direction
of General Canby. Drs. Rose and King of the army, administered
to the wounded.

"It was a fortunate thing that at the time of the accident
there was but one lady about the building. Miss Frothingham,
a lady from Brooklyn, New York, with her escort, was being
shown to the top of the building by Walker Oliver, one of the
colored porters. To get up they had to pass up the stairway
that led to the gallery of the courtroom. They had passed up,
and were between the roof and the ceiling of the courtroom.
They had no means of getting out, as the stairway had been
precipitated into the ruins. It was finally necessary for Walker
to cut his way through the ceiling into the library. In this way

THE CAPITOL DISASTER. 33

he managed to save the lady and her escort from a very unpleas-
ant predicament.

"Major J. S. Calvert, who had his left leg badly broken, was
standing in the clerk's office near the door, immediately under
the gallery. He was looking through the window into the court-
room. He was conversing with R. H. Maury, Jr., beyond whom
and on a line were standing Powhatan Roberts and Thomas S.
Baldwin. He heard the crash and nearly made his escape, but
his left side was caught, and he was borne down into the ruins and
covered. He found his right arm free, and with this he managed
to get the rubbish from over his head and to breathe. He was
under the ruins over half an hour.

"Mr. Adolphus Morris started to enter the courtroom, and
when he saw the crowd remarked, 'It is safer outside than it is
in here,' and went out. He had scarcely gotten out of the door
when the accident occurred.

"From a gentleman who went down we get the following: *I
was standing in the courtroom some distance beyond the centre;
I heard a low, rumbling sound, and the floor gave a sort of a
jump; I felt myself sinking, and I turned and saw the gallery
falling over; I thought it would catch me; fortunately it missed
me ; I could see the men scrambling over each other in the gallery,
and I heard an unearthly yell of anguish that seemed to go up
from one mouth ; then, with a dreadful crash, I fell into the dark-
ness below; I found a dead body lying on me, a wounded man
under me, and another at my side; I heard the man under me say:
"Oh! Death, where is thy sting, oh! grave, where is thy victory?"
I heard cries of pain, supplications of mercy, and such expres-
sions as, "Oh, my poor wife," "My poor children," around me,
and in one instant I heard distinctly a sound which I am convinced
proceeded from some poor fellow dying from suffocation; many
died from suffocation, and I am sure that I would have suffocated
had I not been taken out when I was.'

"Major J. H. Kelly, of Fredericksburg, was conversing with
Patrick Henry Aylett when the floor fell in. He received no
bruises except about the left leg. These are of a very severe and
painful nature.

"The various railroad trains arriving in the city were draped
in mourning, and the carts and other street vehicles were also
appropriately decorated with badges of the same character.

"Mr. Thomas Joynes fell together with Dr. J. B. Brock, and
his mouth rested against the Doctor's cheek. He asked who it
was near him. He told his name, and he asked him in case he
survived to carry many messages of affection to his family.

34 THE CAPITOL DISASTER.

With words of endearment and love for those he left behind he
died.

''Mr. Rush Burgess fell on top of a gentleman whose name he
could not learn. He asked, 'My friend, can you not move a little?'
Mr. Burgess replied, 'No, I cannot stir.' 'Well, 'said he, 'I must
die. Good-bye.'

"During the time in which Hon. George William Brent, of
Alexandria, was covered in the ruins, Mr. Chandler, who was
between the window and Mr. Brent, was endeavoring to get
away, when Mr. Brent caught him by the arm and begged him,
for God's sake, to let him get some air, but in Mr. Chandler's
position it was impossible for him to move until assistance was
rendered. In a short time, however, he was taken out and his
life saved.

"We learn from Mr. Chandler that Mr. Samuel A. Eaton was
sitting on the back of his chair when the floor fell through. Eaton
was killed, and Mr. Chandler not seriously injured; such escapes
are most remarkable.

"The conservative caucus which had met in the hall of the
House of Delegates adjourned not many minutes before the
calamity. Fortunately there had been a dispute about the judge-
ship of Henry county, and an adjournment was necessary. Had
this not been the case, more than half of the legislature would
have been crushed.

"Dr. Thompson, member of the House of Delegates from Han-
over, was caught under two men who were instantly killed by a
heavy falling beam. He himself was slightly injured.

"Mr. P. H. Keenan was buried beneath the ruins for three-
quarters of an hour, and was found nearly suffocated under the
dead bodies.

"Among the killed was a Mr. Burnham, of New York. Mr.
R. C. Burkholder, one of the members of the House from Lynch-
burg, hearing that Mr. Burnham was a relative of one of his
constituents, a well-known builder of Lynchburg, at once sought
out the body, which had been temporarily deposited for identi-
fication in the City Hall, and had it placed in a splendid metallic
case, and made arrangements to have it deposited in a private
vault at Hollywood until called for by friends.

"That portion of the floor on which the judges' platform was
erected did not go through with the rest, as there was com-
paratively little weight upon it. Judges Joynes and Ander-
son escaped to the conference room, and were followed by Mr.
Pizzini of the Whig, and several others, who had struggled
through the mass of rubbish and reached the platform. Colonel

THE CAPITOL DISASTER. 35

McPhail was leaning against the mantel, and clung to it until
he obtained a foothold. His arm was badly injured by the
plaster falling from above. Mr. Wm. Taylor, grocer, of this
city, grasped a window sill near him and held on until assistance
came.

"A large number of those who went through sustained no other
injury than a severe shock and a few bruises or cuts. It is mar-
velous that so many escaped death from the falling timbers and
heavy plaster ceiling of the courtroom which must have fallen
upon the crowd.

"During the fearful accident in the courtroom, Dr. W. M.
Withers was standing on the hearth near the northeast window
of the room. He felt the floor giving way beneath him, and clung
to the mantel until rehef was afforded him. He states that he
at once saw the condition of affairs, and knew that there was but
one chance for escape, and availed himself of it. His partner.
Captain C. C. McPhail, was in company with him, and saved
himself by clinging to the mantelpiece and then climbing to the
window. We have already heard of several remarkable cases of
this kind and have been amazed at the hair-breadth escapes.

"Major John W. Daniel, of the House, says of his escape:

" 'Happily for a number of us near the bench, a narrow margin of the room about
the breadth of the bench ckmg to the walls — the bench itself being unoccupied and
not so much strained, and throwing ourselves forward we grasped the railings that
guarded it, and thus held on at the very brink of the vortex. The raihngs, too, pro-
tected a good many from the timbers of the ceiling by breaking the force of their
fall. McCaul was the first one of those clinging to the railings to extricate himself
from the debris of the ceiUng which covered us — and in that spirit of gallant and un-
selfish courage which makes hearts warm toward him, he paused to help those of
us who were less fortunate, instead of making good his own safety. The door of the
conference room, where the judges were in consultation, happily opens at that end
of the hall, and soon those who were not pinned to the floor climbed through the
ruins, and through it reached the uninjured portion of the building and the open
air, and assistance came to those confined and wounded. McCaul, Mahood and
m}\self, with the exception of slight bruises, were not hurt, and Greer and Hatcher
were equally fortunate.'

"Captain Roberts of the Steamship Albemarle, was standing
near the elevated judge's platform engaged in a pleasant conver-
sation with Mr. W. C. Dunham, the agent of the Old Dominion
Steamship Company, and Mr. Julius A. Hobson. He did not
dream of danger on hearing the cracking of the rafters, attributing
it to some noise outside the room. The Captain informs us that
he found himself buried in plaster and other debris, but managed
to breathe with difficulty until extricated, some thirty or more

36 THE CAPITOL DISASTER.

minutes after the disaster. Near him lay a gentleman who was
continually urging his fellow sufferers to be of good cheer, that
help was at hand, and they would soon be rescued; and the en-
couragement of this (to him unknown) hero was music in his ears.
Suddenly another crash, and, like an avalanche, down tumbled
the entire ceiling into the courtroom, silencing forever, he fears,
the voice and heart of this brave and unknown friend; for he
heard him no more. Captain Roberts was bruised from head to
foot, and so covered with dust that his friends could only recog-
nize him by his voice.

Heroic Conduct.

"One of the most remarkable incidents of the day was the
miraculous escape of Mr. D. B. White, member from Elizabeth
City, and coupled with it, it is our pleasure to note his conduct,
which was truly heroic. He fell through the floor, and, strange
to say, was not hurt in the least. He did not leave the spot for a
moment, but remained through to the close, working manfully
in the endeavor to rescue the sufferers. Such courage and hu-
manity as this deserve great praise.

The Theory of the Accident.

"From conversations with several who were in the courtroom
at the time of the fall, we learn the following as the true theory
of the accident : The large girder which was under the partition
between the clerk's office and the courtroom snapped in twain,
and immediately afterwards the floor commenced to cave. The
support of the crowded gallery having given away, it parted from
the wall and fell over into the centre of the courtroom, crushing
through the floor and precipitating the mass of human beings and
rubbish into the hall below. We examined the girder and found
that it had been broken off just in the centre. It was hewn
timber, and just where it broke off was a cut, as if the workmen
in hewing had made a mislick and driven his adze into the wood
about a quarter of an inch.

Horrible Death.

"The most terrible feature about this whole affair is the heart-
rending manner of death in the majority of instances. Many of
the dead, when brought out, were found to be without serious
bodily injury, but had evidently died from suffocation. The
mere contemplation of such a thing is sickening. Hard, indeed,

THE CAPITOL DISASTER. 37

was the fate of those who had escaped death from the falUng
timber, in the end to die from the untold agonies of suffocation.

An Old Relic Gone.

"If we may be pardoned for any consideration of loss other
than that of human life, we will mention the smash-up of an old
and much honored relic of bye-gone days, the Speaker's Chair of
the House of Delegates, which was formerly used in the House
of Burgesses, decorated with the royal arms of Great Britain. It
was subsequently moved here from Williamsburg, and has been
used in the House of Delegates ever since. It was buried and
broken in the ruins, but was afterwards taken out and will be
repaired.

Expressions of Sympathy Elsewhere.

"As soon as the news of the extent of the calamity had been
spread over the country, telegrams expressive of sympathy and
condolence began to be received in Richmond. Public meetings
were held in Raleigh, New York, Washington, Baltimore, and
other places. The Illinois Constitutional Convention passed
resolutions of the same kind. Material aid for the sufferers was
also soon forthcoming from generous men in other cities. Mr.
Hart, of New York, and Mr. Childs, of Philadelphia, each con-
tributed one thousand dollars. Liberal collections for the same
purpose were also made in Baltimore, Washington, New York,
and other places. Our own people were not wanting. So many
of them have contributed according to their ability that we
omit the names of all. Individuals in other places also sent their
contributions. In fact, it would seem as if this terrible accident
had proved that one touch of Nature makes the whole world
kin.

A LIST OF THE KILLED.

(Fifty-eight were killed outright and four others died later from wounds.)
Aylett, P. H., attorney-at-law.
Bland, J. W. D., senator from Prince Edward.
Block, Dr. Joseph B., reporter Enquirer.
Blamire, James A., druggist.
Baughan, John, Chesterfield.

Brewis, T. A., commission merchant, Alexandria, Va.
Brown, Charles (colored), waiter at Mrs. Spotswood's boarding house.
Bumham, S. E., Blaston Springs, Saratoga county, New York.
Branch, Charles.
Bradshaw, R. E.
Charters, WiUiam A., chief engineer fire department.

38 THE CAPITOL DISASTER.

Coleman, P. Sidney.

Cox, Sergeant James T., police.

Cray, William R., police.

Davis, W. H., coal merchant.

Donnan, D. S., firm of Donnan & Sons.

Dugger, D. S., citizen.

Dunn, William, old citizen, Venable street.

Forsythe, Captain H. H., Staunton.

Eaton, Samuel A., clerk mayor's court.

Foley, Thomas P., deputy marshall.

Grady, Hugh G., former merchant of this city.

Grinnan, Charles J.

Howard, N. P., attorney-at-law.

Hix, Samuel, Lynchburg.

Hobson, Julius A., formerly city collector.

Hutchinson, Hugh M., Henrico county.

Hairston, Major Samuel H., Henry county.

Hisbie, Mr., poUce.

Kirby, Captain James, captain of artillery during the war.

Kerr, John, police.

Levy, Ash, citizen, formerly merchant.

Lynch, B. W., Manchester.

Maury, R. H., Jr., land agent.

Meanley, Mr.

Massey, John D., Goochland.

McCarthy, Michael, police.

Meagher, John R., police.

Newman, John, merchant, Broad street.

Quarles, Thomas PL, son of Thomas D. Quarles.

Roberts, Powhatan, attorney-at-law.

Robinson, B. F., Cumberland, coimty.

Randolph, W. E., supposed from New York.

Robertson, Rev. John, colored.

Ryan, J. C, pohce.

Schofield, E. M., city assessor and brother of General Schofield.

Seay, James A., police.

Schultz, police.

Turner, John M., son of Major F. P. Turner, and page in the House of

Delegates.
Taylor, G. S., Richmond county.
Thompson, William H.
Tourgee, Captain D. G., police.
Webb, Lewis N., former merchant.
Woolfolk, Col. Pichegru, Henrico county.
Watson, Charles, clerk at Danville depot.
Ward, Edward, Tredegar Works.
Walker, James M., police.

WiUcox, Thomas, H., attorney-at-law, Charles City county.
Baldwin, Thomas S., clothing merchant.
Cullingsworth, Thomas.

Dunham, W. C, agent Old Dominion Steamship Company.
Robertson, Jos. R., carpenter.

THE CAPITOL DISASTER. 39

A LIST OF THE WOUNDED.

Anp:le, Mordecai.

Alley, D. H., ex-policeman.

Antelotti, D.

Allen, WiUiam, policeman.

Allen, Jo.seph, watchman.

Allen, Captain G. W., harbor-master.

Anderson, M. T.

Binford, Thomas M.

Beine, Anton, merchant.

Blair, Matthew.

Bouldin, Colonel Wood.

Brent, Colonel G. William, attomey-at-law, Alexandria.

Bevill, R. Dudley.

Bocock, Hon. Thomas S., Lynchburg.

Burwell, William (colored).

Bollinp;, Stith, member House of Delegates from Lunenburg.

Boiling, Colonel G. W., Petersburg.

Bell, Major H. M., member of House of Delegates from Staunton.

Bell, Henry, member of House of Delegates from Matthews.

Burgess, Dr. R. U., member of the House from Southampton.

Beverlx^, Robert, of Fauquier.

Burgess, Rush, collector of internal revenue for Third District.

Bowen, H., of Tazewell county.

Beekman, B. H.

Bradford, Daniel, .Jr.

Burnett, Robert, Henrico.

Beckwith, Harvey, of Cahfornia.

Bishop, Charles, Petersburg.

Blum, G. L.

Blankenship, B.

Bradshaw, John.

Bosher, George L.

Bartlett, Jas., of Manchester.

Butler. John T.

Bethel, Elisha, Jr.

Bloomer, George.

Brazea', W. C, coal dealer.

Binford, Thomas M.

Bradford, Tucker.

Clark, James, H., colored barber.

Chandler, Hon. L. H.

Connors, Thomas.

Caivert, Major John S.

Campbell, Dr., Shenandoah.

Campbell, W. E.

Corse, General M. D., Alexandria.

Cavanaugh, .

Christian, George L., attomey-at-iaw.

Chesterman, W. D., reporter and correspondent.

Cannon, Henry.

Clayton, Gus.

40 THE CAPITOL DISASTER.

Chase, J. T.

Carroll, Thomas.

Connally, John K., attomey-at-law.

Crane, John.

Chahoon, George.

Daniel, Major John W., attorney-at-law

Dowden, Jack.

Dabnej'^, La Vega.

Dalby, , Driscol', Daniel

Duesberry, A. Bohannon.

Doyle, Mike.

Davenport, John, merchant.

Deane, Otis, of the gas works.

Ellyson, H. K.

Elam, W. C, newspaper correspondent.

Epps, Charles, captain of police.

Ellis, James, grocer.

Edmondson, Isaac, colored.

Frayser, W. H., street car driver.

Finney, John, fireman.

Fields, Thomas B.

Fontaine, William, colored.

Fowler, E., of Bristol Nev)s.

Fowlkes, George W., captain of police.

Fogarthy, H. H.

Fitzhugh, , of Fredericksburg.

Green, T. William.

Gathright, William.

Green, George S., of Fredericksburg.

Glenn, Peter D., bricklayer.

Grattan, Peachy R., attorney-at-law.

Gentry, Charles W.

Goodman, W. T.

Gilmer, J. Harmer, attorney-at-law.

Gotleib, B. W., grocer.

Green, M. V.

Green, Pisagno.

Goode, Jas. W.

Ghio, Gui.sseppo.

Green, N.

Hawkins, A. J., police.

Haines, Walter, of Henrico.

Harris, Robert B., an old citizen of Church Hill.

Hoppe, W. A.

Howison, R. R., attorney-at-law.

Herndon, Charles, Senator, of Fredericksburg.

Hull, sergeant police.

?Iunter, Isaac H., colored, messenger of city council.

Howard, R. T.

Holt, John T., Charles City county.

Hart, John.

Handy, Moses P., of the Dispatch.

Hoy, P. H., Chesterfield.

THE CAPITOL DISASTER. 41

Hord, Benjamin H.

Hale, Jas., Manchester.

Hill, E. B.

Harvie, Beckwith, California.

Howard, John, attorney-at-law.

Howe, E. S., Boston.

Hinton, N. J.

Howard, Daniel, colored.

Irving', Thomas.

Irving, John.

Jones, P. K., colored, member House of Delegates from Sussex.

Jones, Alcides, of Louisa.

Jacobs, S. B.

Joynes, Thomas R., son of Judge William T. Joynes.

James, Sergeant A. J., police.

Jones, William A.

Johnston, Peyton.

Jones, H. F., Warwick county.

Kelley, John C.

Kelley, J. H., of the Fredericksburg Herald, and member of the House of

Delegates.
Keenan, P. H.
Keegan, John.
Kendrick, Senator from CaixoU county.

Lindsay,

Lyon, T. K., Governor street.

Langford, Thos. H.

Lee, Francis, formerly of Nova Scotia.

Loth, J. H.

Lee Frank.

Lee, John, colored.

Lewis, John H., colored barber.

Lacy, George.

Larkin, Patrick, Seventeenth street.

Leffew, A. D.

Lumpkin, C. A., police.

LeTellier, Stephen D.

Linneman, A. H.

Mosely, Thos.

Meredith, Judge John A., attorney-at-law.

McCaulley, John.

Mosely, Thos.

Maroney,

McRae, Col. Sherwin, attorney-at-law.

Miller, , Montgomery county.

Murphy, , No. 109 Jackson street.

Maury, W. A., attomey-at-law.

Matthews, William, member of the House from Loudoun.

Mahood, F. W., Giles county, member of House of Delegates.

Murray, John M., clerk First National Bank.

Mosby, Chas.

Mothern, WiUiam.

McCauli, John A., of Roanoke, member of House of Delegates.

42 THE CAPITOL DISASTER.

McKenney, A. S., Fredericksburg.

NcCoy, R. E., of Petersburg.

McKay, Walter fire brigrade.

Massie, R. S.

Mooers, S. K., Charles City.

Moore, Captain Samuel P.

Nowlan, Thos.

Neeson, Jas., attomey-at^aw.

Nunnally, Lawson, Esq.

Nolley, Rev. George W., of Caroline.

Nowlin, Judge A. W. C, of Carroll county.

Oberk, John H.

O'DeU, E. P.

O'Dwyer, sergeant B. Kendall, of the police.

O'Conners, Thos.

Oliver, Jas.

Parker, Col. A. K.

Pendleton, Dr.

Parrish, W. Marshall.

Pemberton, Captain WiUiam.

Pleasants, Henry A., of the Dispatch.

Philhps, Fred. W.

Porter, L. M.

Pisagno, Green.

Page, Wm. A.

Peebles, A. T., magistrate.

Read, Jas. C.

Robertson, Capt. R. N., Steamer Albemarle.

Roberts, Capt. R., Manchester.

Rowe, Wm. Wallace, Marshall street.

Rogers, Winston.

Ryan, Jas.

Ronald, Col. Chas., formerly of the 27th Virginia.

Roane, Richard, of Charles City.

Roane, James, of Charles City.

Rawlston, Peter W., formerly City Auditor.

Richardson, Wm. T., printer.

Ricker, Beverly.

Redding, Dennis B.

Smith, Wm.

Strother, Judge John R., of Culpeper, a member of House of Delegate*.

Stubbs, J. N., member House of Delegates from Gloucester.

Sullivan, P. C.

Smith, Wm. A., of Gloucester.

Sherman, Dr., guest at Ford's Hotel.

Soper, H. Horace, of Baltimore.

Shelton, I. C, member from Stafford.

Smith, Capt., W. B.

Strasberry, D.

Schleisher, S.

Sutherland, P. H.

Shultrus, Augt. L., Troy, N. Y.

Schultz, August, police.

THE CAPITOL DISASTER. 43

Snead, W. Daniel.

Schlaciiler, Got.

Scott, Thos. H.

Shell, Wm.

Sedgwick, Jno. R.

Sizer, Wm. T.

Sims, Edward.

Steele, Robert A., Knoxville, Tenn.

Taylor, Wm.

Tyler, John.

Tyler, Tho.s. A.

Townsend, Henry, Norfolk city.

Terry, A. J., sergeant police.

Tanksley, Mark.

Terrell, Joseph.

Thompson, Dr., member from Hanover.

Tompkins, W. R.

Taylor, Attorney-General, J. C.

Vaiden, Albert, colored.

Watts, Judge Legh R., of Portsmouth.

Woodson, C. J., of Goochland.

Wood, Wm. Sears, tinner.

Wells, ex-Governor H. H.

Wilkinson, captain of the police.

Wilson, John.

Wilson, Thomas E. ,

Wren, Daniel.

Wheeley, W. B.

WilKams, W. E., policeman.

Wilson, Albert L.

Wilson, F. C.

Woodhouse,

Watts, James H., colored porter for senate.

Waller, B. F.

Walton, Ben.

The day following the disaster, a great pubhc meeting of people
of all classes and conditions was held on the Capitol Square in
front of the southern portico of the Capitol. Governor Walker
presided, and after a few feeling and appropriate remarks, he
called on the Rev. Moses D. Hoge, D. D., who offered a most
impressive and appropriate prayer. A committee of thirty, with
Judge WilUam W. Crump, as Chairman, was appointed to report
suitable resolutions, and reported the following:

-With hearts crushed and bleeding, with a mournful and overwhelming sense of
our great bereavement, we have assembled to testify our sorrow for the dead, to of fer
our tenderest and deepest .sympathies for the living, and to mingle our tears with the
stricken households over which the angel of death has so suddenly passed. With
heads bowed in reverential awe before the Great Disposer of Events, we contemplate

44 THE CAPITOL DISASTER,

with shuddering anguish that fearful and terrible catastrophe, which has hurried
into eternity our friends and our fellow citizens.

"This fearful disaster, which has brought lamentation and mourning to us all
without distinction, has, in the universal sorrow it has diffused, touched that chord
of sympathy among us which makes all mankind kin.'

"Nor has this great calamity been confined alone to this mourning city; but it has
cast its sombre shade throughout and beyond the Hmits of Virginia.

"In the Captiol of our State, within the honored precincts of that hall where justice
sits supreme among us — in a time of profound tranquillity — at a season when Nature
is renewing her life under the glowing warmth of a vernal sun, when, in unison with
the spring-time, heart and hope rose highest — without warning, in an instant, death,
the remorseless, has snatched from hfe some of our most valued citizens, conspicuous
aUke in public and private hfe, and occupying every position of usefulness among us.

"Though accustomed by years of painful experience to the sight of wounds and
death, these were the inevitable hazards of war to those who stood upon the perilous
edge of battle; and though nature would have voice, and tears of anguish would flow,
yet there was wanting to our grief the keen pang which has pierced our hearts in this
unexpected and stunning shock, which has bowed our souls in woe under its dread
dispensation. More than two generations have passed away since our people have
been called to mourn a catastrophe so portentous. It is fit that we should follow the
example of our fathers, and bend before the Great Jehovah in humiliation and in
prayer, and ask for His mercy and His grace to support us in our heavy affliction.
Be it, therefore,

"Resolved, That we mourn with profound sorrow the loss which our State and our
city has suffered in the death of her citizens. That we offer with saddened hearts
and tearful eyes our profoundest sympathies to the bereaved and to the suffering,
and fervently pray that as their days of affliction are, 'so may their strength be.'

"2. That Wednesday next, the 4th of May, be set apart as a day of humiUation,
prayer and reUgious service, on which day the people of this city are requested to
assemble in their respective places of pubhc worship, at such hours as may be desig-
nated by the clergy, who are respectfully invited to co-operate in the purposes of
this resolution."

Judge Crump, Judge Robert Ould, Hon. A. M. Keily and
Governor Wise each then made most eloquent and feeling ad-
dresses, which touched every heart present, already bowed and
bleeding in the presence of the great calamity and universal
sorrow.

In addition to this general meeting, other meetings were held,
as follows:

Of the "Richmond Press Cluh,^^ to pay a tribute to Dr. J. B.
Brock of the Staff of the "Enquirer,'" who was killed.

Of the "Richmond Press," to pay tributes to Hugh R. Pleasants
and Patrick Henry Aylett.

Of the Policemen and Firemen, to make suitable arrangements
for the burial of their dead.

Of the Survivors of the Young Guard, to pay a tribute to Captain
Wm. A. Charters, formerly a member of that organization, and
at the time of his death chief of the fire department of the city.

THE CAPITOL DISASTER. 45

Of the Board of Underwriters, to pay a tribute also to Wm. A.
Charters, the secretary of that board.

Of the Survivors of the Howitzers, to pay proper tributes to R.
H. Maury, Jr., H. M. Hutcheson, David Donnan and Thomas H.
Quarles, members of that organization.

Of the Corn and Flour Exchange, to pay a tribute to Ash Levy.

Of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce.

Of the Richmond Bar, to pay tributes to the memory of Nath-
aniel P. Howard, Patrick Henry Aylett and Powhatan Roberts.

Of all the members of the several committees appointed at all
these meetings, we note but two survivors: Wm. P. Gretter
and James H. Dooley.

It is scarcely necessary to say, in conclusion, we recognize that
the recitals here set forth are literally a "tale of woe," from the
beginning to the end. The recording of that story has been any-
thing else than a pleasant task to us, first, because it relates to
and records a part of the history of this city and State that all of
us look back to with pain and sorrow. Had the people of the
South been responsible for the causes which produced these con-
ditions, we would feel ashamed and humiliated for the rest of our
lives, as doubtless the authors of these conditions have long since
felt, and would, if they could, obliterate the deeds of that period
from memory and from our history. These deeds, and the scenes
as here portrayed, are, however, a part of our history, made so
by our quordam enemies, and, we think, "our childred and our
children's children" have a right to demand of us that we tell
them of these things, of the "deep waters" through which we had
to pass, and how their fathers and their mothers bore themselves
"in the midst of that flood."

The condition of the city of Richmond to-day is the best proof
we can offer to this last enquiry. Another very sad reflection
to us is the fact that of the two hundred and fifty-one wounded
in the disaster, only six, as far as we know, are now alive, and all
of the principal actors in the events here recorded, some of them
our dearest friends, have "gone to their reward," and, therefore,
we feel like saying, with Scott in Marmion —

"When musing on companions ^one
"We doubly feel ourselves alone."

When General Lee was asked at the close of the war, whether,
or not, he intended to leave the South, as some of his great lieu-
tenants had done? He replied, "I think the South needs the aid
of her sons now, more than at any period of her history. As you

46 THE CAPITOL DISASTER.

ask my purpose, I will state that I have no thought of abandoning
her unless compelled to do so." This great man never spoke
nobler words than these, and his splendid example was followed
by most of those who had followed him in battle. It was well
for the South they did so. We almost shudder now, when we
think of the trials through which we passed in the days of "Re-
construction," and of the condition the people of the South would
have been left in, if her true sons, those who had fought and bled
for her in war, had forsaken her then. We think this is something
for the young men and women of to-day to think on now. When
they look upon

"The old Confederate Veteran whose life is in the past

"The war cloud hke a mantle round his rugged form is cast;

"He hears the bugle calling o'er the far and Mystic Sea,

"For he tramped the fields with Stonewall, and he climbed the heights with Lee."

I TRRftRY OF CONGRESS

iiflJ

0 014 444 366 4 •